Once I first examine Titan: The Ocean Submersible Catastrophe premiering on the 2025 Netflix launch schedule earlier this 12 months, I made certain to look at the documentary the day it dropped. I did simply that, and now I’m fully shook after utilizing my Netflix subscription to look at a doc in regards to the 2023 OceanGate catastrophe that claimed the lives of 5, together with the corporate’s founder and CEO, Stockton Rush.
Although I had a sense the 2025 movie would break my coronary heart at any time when it began to speak in regards to the tragedy that rocked the world two years in the past, I didn’t know it could have an effect on me like this. It wasn’t simply the occasions of that fateful day in June 2023, however as an alternative the whole lot that led to it, most of which may have been prevented…
Everybody However Stockton Rush Knew One thing Like This Was Going To Occur (Or Possibly He Did)
I don’t need to classify Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Catastrophe as a real crime documentary, however it does share a whole lot of similarities with docs like The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley or Going Clear: Scientology and the Jail of Perception. I imply this in that it focuses on a larger-than-life determine who was so decided to be proper that they ignored the whole lot that was going unsuitable round them.
Whether or not it was former Director of Marine Operations, David Lochridge, who was fired after citing a myriad of considerations in regards to the Titan submersible, or former Director of Engineering, Tony Nissen, who was fired after refusing to log out on a check mission, everybody appeared to know this was going to occur. However Rush, blinded by ambition and conceitedness, didn’t have these considerations, which was unsettling.
The Minimize-Corners, The Hubris, The Lack Of Oversight Have been Startling
I believed I knew rather a lot about OceanGate and Rush after studying and watching numerous information experiences, spending time with numerous documentaries, and from just about being on the web nonstop when the submersible imploded on its descent. Nonetheless, Titan confirmed me that I solely knew a part of the story.
It was startling to look at the almost two-hour documentary expose all of the minimize corners, hubris, and lack of oversight that plagued OceanGate all these years. I perceive making an attempt to make the submersible as mild and low cost as doable, however to not hearken to the consultants (or your individual intestine) when stuff begins going unsuitable is wild. Every tear, crack, and pop of the carbon fiber hull made my coronary heart race and my intestine sink, understanding what would occur years, months, or weeks later.
All Of This May Have Been Prevented, And That is The Unhappy Half
The worst half about the whole lot in The Ocean Submersible Catastrophe is that all of it may have been prevented if Rush had listened to the consultants, had not been such an boastful scientist, or had allowed the doomed submersible to be rigorously examined and inspected by a 3rd get together. That’s one thing that may stick to me for a really very long time. As a substitute, the OceanGate founder introduced Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Hamish Hardin, Shahzada Dawood, and Suleman Dawood, together with himself, to a watery grave on the website of the Titanic.
One other factor that I can’t assist however shake after watching the documentary is the truth that OceanGate examined this submersible able to reaching 4,000 meters beneath the floor with a PlayStation 3 controller (as seen within the trailer), the exact same kind of controller my canine destroyed alongside a duplicate of Titanic years in the past.